Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz had big dreams for building a coffee company, and he came this close to dropping them.

For The Huffington Post's parent-child interview series Talk To Me, Howard opened up to his son, HuffPost Sports writer Jordan Schultz, about his childhood and the motivation behind his work.

He also recalled a moment years ago, when his wife Sheri Schultz was the sole breadwinner and seven months pregnant, while he worked without a salary on his small coffee business. Howard's father-in-law asked for a private conversation to tell him, respectfully but seriously, "It's time that you give up this [coffee] hobby and get a job."

Howard started to cry, and said the conversation left him embarrassed. But when he brought it up to his wife, she had a different reaction.

"She said, 'We're going to follow these dreams that you have. We're going to see this through,'" he remembered. "And here we are."

Howard said his wife's reaction was critical. "If she wasn't as supportive then as she was, I don't think we would be here today." That moment also partly inspired him to encourage his kids to follow their own passions outside of the family business.

"I felt very strongly that I had seen too many kids of successful parents go into their respective business, and I thought the pressure on you or [your sister] would have been too great to work at Starbucks," Howard told his son, adding later, "We'll help you in some way if you need it, but you should follow your own dreams, your own passions, and it's worked out beautifully."

To close the interview, the proud dad offered his son some other important advice: "Don’t be a bystander, be involved, be engaged, be curious, make a difference."